Adult chimpanzees can be very difficult to work with. At sexual maturity the males tend to get extremely irritable and have a tendency toward violence.

Gosh, what a coincidence!

Modern costuming and effects would avoid that problem very neatly. --And we can safely assume that in the NAC's timeline, bein' able to gripe to other sentients has helped adult male chimps considerably with irritability. Not to mention ready access to beer an' mass media (hey, it works pretty well with the other male primates that get grumpy in adulthood!)

Adult chimpanzees can be very difficult to work with. At sexual maturity the males tend to get extremely irritable and have a tendency toward violence.

Gosh, what a coincidence!

Modern costuming and effects would avoid that problem very neatly. --And we can safely assume that in the NAC's timeline, bein' able to gripe to other sentients has helped adult male chimps considerably with irritability. Not to mention ready access to beer an' mass media (hey, it works pretty well with the other male primates that get grumpy in adulthood!)

This brings to mind the old ABC kids' show Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp, which had an all-chimp cast. They had enormous difficulties getting the chimps to work together at times, and found it necessary to use castrated males because otherwise the mating instincts and male rivalries would assert themselves.

heehee yeah, totally- although I think Terry Jones would be even better for the dolphin's voice. Something about the Welsh accent. There's nothing stuffy about a dolphin, which is the image Cleese's voice tends to bring.

Jen, I think you're mixing Olongo and Ooloorie. But that's good - that means we can have both John Cleese for Olongo and Terry Jones for Ooloorie. Now if Meep opens up a Brit themed resturaunt this week, we can go for a three-fer...

May I suggest: Jamie Pressley as Clarissa and Jessica Simpson as D.J. By the way I would like to extend a big hello to L. Neil. I got a copy of his second book in this series "The Venus Belt" from an old girl friend of mine back in 1988 and his work was responsible for my political changing from a conservative republican to a libertarian. I realize now that I was a libertarian all along but it took his imagination of a world of peace, prosperity and freedom to make me see it. Thanks L. N. S.

Hey Everyone!!!!! I thought everyone would like to know that I saw a movie on TV tonight that had the "ABSOLUTELY PERFECT DJ". Her name isVictoria Silvstedt (sounds dutch but I'm not sure). If the name isn't familiar then check her out as "Inga" in the movie "Boat Trip"starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and you'll see what I mean. Wow, Wow, Wow!!!!!!!!

Hey Everyone!!!!! I thought everyone would like to know that I saw a movie on TV tonight that had the "ABSOLUTELY PERFECT DJ". Her name isVictoria Silvstedt (sounds dutch but I'm not sure). If the name isn't familiar then check her out as "Inga" in the movie "Boat Trip"starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and you'll see what I mean. Wow, Wow, Wow!!!!!!!!

Do any of you remember the movie "The Day The EArth Stood Still" ? The director purposely cast people that were unknown so that the so-called star value would not detract from the story and the message. Food for thought.

Thought had occurred to me. What if someone really rich but unconnected to the television/ movie industry were to walk into the offices of the Scifi channel and say something like "I've read The "Probability Broach" and I think it really has potential." "I'm willing to put up 10 million of my own money if your willing to produce and film it for your channel." "You can use the money to make it and are essentially free from any possibility of loss." Can anybody tell me that this is possible or not? Okay, okay I KNOW IT'S NOT LIKELY TO HAPPEN, BUT IS IT POSSIBLE?

Greetings, fellow sentients. My overall complaint about current makeup/fx to age younger actors is they end up looking like something out of a bad zombie movie in all the plastic.----

I would like to humbly suggest abandoning the concept of the Ed/Win character being a single actor. Split screen, from what I've read, increases costs almost as bad as large scale CGI does. There is a possible simpler solution:

Find two actors who are either siblings or cousins and physically very similar except age. Think (conceptually only) or the Baldwin or Caradine brothers (definitely only conceptual. I wouldn't give a Baldwin an audition for a LNS based movie). Remember, due to the access to scientifically better, more economical healthcare that Ed grew up with in the N.A.C, he looks 15 to 25 years younger than Ed does at the start of the book.

Another take on this idea is to take 2 acting twins (Fraternal or Identical) and do what Terminator 2 did with Linda Hamilton and her twin Leslie Hamilton Gaerren in the final fight scene (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/). Granted that this method would be as or more expensive as the single actor concept.

----3rd (and final ) suggestion: Do an all CGI movie/mini-series like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within or the motion-capture CGI: Polar Express

Cons: COST, COST, COST.Pros: Shows the "emotional" differences between U.S.A. and N.A.C. as Win saw it. Think about the effect in The Wizard of Oz (w/ Judy Garland) when she wakes up in Oz and looks out the farmhouse window!